Jamaat ready to umpire political impasses

LAHORE- Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Sirajul Haq on Friday said that if the government and Imran Khan provided an opportunity for umpiring, the JI with the cooperation of leadership of other political parties, will search out a suitable solution to the prevailing political crisis in line with the Constitution.Addressing a large public meeting at Dhobi Ghat here, he said it was unfortunate that Islamabad was virtually under a siege and the two sides were raising slogans to eliminate each other. “We request both the government and Imran Khan to bury hatred and demonstrate love and tolerance for each other to protect the Constitution, the state and democracy,” Siraj emphasised. He also urged the PTI to withdraw its decision to tender resignations from the National Assembly. JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch and Punjab Ameer Dr Syed Waseem Akhtar also addressed the meeting. The JI chief said if Imran Khan was under the impression that Mian Nawaz Sharif would offer his resignation in a platter, he was mistaken “as the Sharifs were not so simple either.” Sirajul Haq said that to preserve the supremacy of the Constitution and strengthen democracy, the Supreme Court Commission should probe into rigging, adding that if it transpired that elections were rigged or engineered, Mian Nawaz Sharif would have no right to stay in power.The JI chief paid tribute to the armed forces, the judiciary and the police for being impartial during the current marches and the sit-ins. However, he said, the US attitude remained unchanged as it was interfering in the country’s affairs unnecessarily. He said if democracy was really dear to Washington, it could not have supported Gen Sisi against Dr Mursi in Egypt. The US should stop poking its nose in others’ affairs and withdraw from the Muslim states,” he added. Sirajul Haq said that Pakistan did not belonged to Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and Dr Qadri alone, it belonged to the 180 million Pakistanis, and they did not want bloodshed on Islamabad’s roads. He said the solution of all issues and problems being faced by the country and the nation laid in the enforcement of Shariah. He said that a small corrupt elite had been ruling the country for the past 67 years and had been exploiting the masses. Many of those sitting in the parliament should have been behind bars, he remarked.